1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to multi-clarity lens that diffuse and/or project a light source.
2. Description of the Background of the Invention
Lenses that diffuse light are known in the art. Devices that incorporate lenses are also known. One such device is a lighting unit for use with common household lighting fixtures that uses an illumination system near a wall or surface for creating an image of light thereon by passing radiant light through a convergent refracting lens. The lens in one instance is decorative in shape and embellished with etched, drawn, painted or applied designs for projecting the image.
Other devices that project light are nightlights that have a neon lamp or a number of light-emitting diodes (LED's) as the light source that are arranged in series with a current-limiting capacitor. In some cases, lighting devices emit different colors of light such as from multiple LED's.
Other devices that project light include a fragrance diffuser that is plugged directly into a wall socket and generates heat to facilitate diffusion of an active material, such as an air freshener or insect control material. Such diffusers are also known as heat-assisted evaporative dispensers.
One particular type of diffuser that plugs into a wall employs a liquid or gel air-treating composition in an enclosure having a permeable membrane, with all or part of the enclosure formed of a polymeric film. When heated, the air-treating composition migrates through the membrane and is released as a vapor at an outer surface. The use of this type of permeable polymeric membrane controls the dispensing of air-treating vapors and tends to eliminate great variations in rate of dispensing over the life of the product. Another conventional type of diffuser employs a liquid air freshener such as scented oil or a liquid insect repellant contained in a clear plastic container or bottle having a wick. One diffuser employs a ring-type heater mounted in the air freshener to vaporize and disperse the liquid contained in the container. Another device for evaporating a liquid from a container having a wick utilizes a sliding part coupled to a housing to displace and axially guide the container in a non-rotating manner in relation to a heating element to regulate an evaporation rate of the liquid. One vapor dispensing unit uses a variable temperature heater configured as a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) heater to control the evaporation level of fragrance. Yet another vaporizing device uses a guidance system between a refill bottle having a wick and a housing unit to aid in guiding a refill bottle unit relative to the housing unit and to center the wick contained in the refill bottle unit relative to a heating element contained within the housing unit when the refill bottle is inserted into the housing unit.
In some instances, a liquid evaporator uses a refill bottle that has an engagement portion that engages a casing of the liquid evaporator and a release that causes deformation of the receiver and to allow release of the container from the casing.
Various types of fragrance dispensers other than the evaporative type use an electrostatic vapor or an aerosol generator for supplying aromatic oil, deodorant, disinfectant, fumigant, fungicide, insecticide or bactericide, to a room. In some cases, an adjustable aerosol dispenser is provided for supplying different amounts of fragrance into a room according to sensed light, odor, sound, etc. In other cases, a device is provided for emitting a vaporized substance into the atmosphere according to the setting of a timer. In yet other cases, an electrostatic sprayer that sprays insecticides is controlled according to selected “on” times and “off” times and also incorporates a sensor to sense the available power for continued operation. Other dispensers have an ultrasonic liquid atomizer with automatic frequency control, or have timers for controlling the operation of the dispensers according to preset times.
Additional dispensers of a type often referred to as diffusers have a fragrance warmer that incorporates a plug-through capability and an incandescent nightlight. Incandescent nightlights, however, suffer from various disadvantages. For example, incandescent bulbs produce considerable heat. When incandescent nightlights are used in connection with a diffuser of volatile active material, the heat generated by the incandescent nightlight tends to affect the rate at which the active material is diffused. Thus, when the nightlight is turned on, the active material may, for example, diffuse too quickly. Also, because of the added heat, it is difficult to regulate the rate at which the active material is diffused. Another disadvantage of using incandescent bulbs as nightlights is that the bulbs tend to consume relatively large amounts of energy. Since nightlights are often left on for extended periods of time in multiple rooms of a house, this energy consumption may be a significant consideration.
Various techniques, such as using different incandescent bulbs and using bulbs of varying size or power rating, have been used in an attempt to reduce heat produced and power consumed by nightlights. These techniques, however, have yielded only minor reductions in heat emission and energy consumption, and come at a cost to performance of the nightlight.
Another problem with conventional diffusers is that the diffusers do not make effective use of lighting elements. For example, lighting elements in conventional diffusers are typically not used to generate aesthetic lighting displays, such as multicolored displays, color-changing displays, projection displays, shine-through displays, or the like. A still further problem is that conventional diffusers are limited in use to locations where wall sockets are already exist. Wall sockets are often located in places that are less than ideal for placement of diffusers, such as near the floor, in a corner, etc. This limitation on the location of diffusers is even more problematic for diffusers that have a lighting element or display, since the diffuser often cannot be located in a user's line of sight, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the lighting element. Yet another problem is that conventional diffusers typically do not have suitable controllability for varying the emission of light and/or fragrance. In particular, such diffusers seldom have fragrance dispensers that are easily and precisely adjustable to vary a fragrance intensity or diffusion rate.